Gaming: G3258 vs i3 4370

[Kite-GX]

The real question would be, "Which is better for gaming: Intel Pentium G3258, i3 4370, or i5 4690?"
But while the answer is obvious, what I'm here for is to know the meaning behind the question.
I want to know: Why does a dual-core CPU bottleneck gaming in the latest AAA titles?, Would a dual-core with hyper-threading (i3) affect gaming positively compared to a dual-core (Pentium)? how, and why?, Why is a quad-core (i5) superior for gaming? Would there be any real disadvantage in picking a Z87 over a Z97 chipset beyond the SATA Express thing?
elaborate as much as possible.

Thanks in advance.

Details:
I've been reading into this topic for quite a bit and while I can understand what is better than what, I want to know why. There is quite a significant gap in pricing between these CPUs, so I wanna make sure I make the right choice by only spending only as much as I will really need to. This would be as part of a future build I'm planning, mostly for High-Ultra 60fps 1080p gaming (or maybe 2k later in the future). Some work too, but that only involves browsing and downloading files, and some media playback. I'll be playing a handful of older games, but also newer ones. I'm mostly interested in FPS and Action RPGs. For video I'll most likely try to get a 970 or maybe I'll settle with a 960, but that depends on the situation and I'll be leaving the VGA for last.

 

[smorizio]

i3 two real cores....i5 has 4 real cores. so if the game or program can use more then one core the i5 can do 4x the data on each clock cycle.the older z chipset would take a newer devil cannon cpu even with a bios update.
there are online list of mb that may work with the older chipset. the z97 and newer intel cpu were paired by intel.

 

[Math Geek]

the pentium is simply 2 cores/threads and that's it. so a game that can use more than that will be hindered by "only" having 2 to work with. most newer games are written to use 4 threads. hence the pentium falling behind in the newest games.

the i3 is also dual core but it has hyperthreading which let's it use 4 threads instead of only 2. this is not as efficient as having 4 true cores like the i5 does. hyperthreading better utilizes a core than it otherwise would but it is not as good as having 4 actual cores to work with. this is why the i5 will outperform it in every case. it has 4 true cores and thus each core get's a full workout. any more than the 4 cores/threads goes unused by the game and therefore is a waste to have. such as an i7 which is 4 cores plus hyperthreading making it have 8 threads. benchmarks have shown over and over that it offers little to no gain over "only" 4 core i5's.

this is a basic answer to the question. to fully understand what hyperthreading does do some specific searches for that. it is not too complicated but beyond what i wish to type out here

 

[LookItsRain]

The g3258 only has 2 threads, whenever the system needs cpu resources, it HAS to steal cpu utilization from the 2 cores running games, which is why the 3258 is terrible.

The i3 helps by adding 2 extra threads to handle background processes and the 2 extra threads also can help with the workload of some games, distributing the load over 4 threads besides 2. The i5 works in the same way, except the 2 extra threads are true cores and not hyperthreading, so the extra 2 cores on the i5 have much better performance over a hyper threading.

The reason i would do z87 over z97 is for bios and storage options. But, in my opinion buying any locked intel cpu on z97/z87 is a waste of money, h97 will do the job perfectly.

An i3, like the 4370 will do the job at 1080p, as i own one in my current system.

If you are going over 1080p, or buying a gtx 970 or above, i would buy the i5.

 

[naturesninja]

I recommend just slapping a GTX 970/980 or 290/290x with a proper PSU & CPU cooler/OC on your current system.

 

[naturesninja]

If you do build a new rig though, you should order some 2133MHz Ram and put that in your A10 system and put it's 1866MHz in your new system.

 

[Kite-GX]

Thanks to everyone for helping me out on this. I do plan to get a 970 or something similar for my current build, however there's a chance I'll start a new build down the line thus I wanted to learn more on the Intel side of things.

 

[WhiteSnake91]

the i5 would be the better choice, or even a xeon 1230 v3, about the same price as an i5, but is essentially a locked i7 without integrated graphics.

you could just add a good gpu to your current a10 7850k and call it a day though, my bro uses a 660ti with his a10 5800k and it's hard to tell a difference between our systems in real world usage. An amd quad core can certainly still game decently, but if you're really set on spending the money on intel, I'd get an i5 or Xeon with an h97 motherboard or z97 if the price is close enough and just be done with it. I don't think a dual core will fare well for the future at all.

you could even get a used z68 and i5 2500k cheap and use that as well. But your a10 7850k would play games on ultra 1080p well with a good gpu.

the 7850k got hyped up too much I believe....somebody with a cheap athlon 750k and r7 260x would be able to play games better than the 7850k's integrated graphics tbh, I looked into the situation myself.